Nico Di Angelo and the Goblet of Fire •Book one of the Two Dark Lords series•

Chapter Twelve

This is it, this is the day of the first challenge! Harry and I had prepared him as much as we could... Which wasn't much at all considering we had no idea what Harry would have to do in this challenge. If I were the champion I would have just used my sword and killed the beast, but I seriously doubt any of these wizards know how to use a sword. I watch as Harry disappears into the champion's tent. The other three champions would be extremely hard to catch up with. Victor is a personal friend of mine and although he may be cool to hang out with, he is tough as nails in a competition. Fleur is brave and has a hard head. When in danger, she goes from nice and preppy to a demon just like that.
Cedric although I do not like him at all, is intelligent and experienced. He has the skill to stay calm and make wise choices under pressure. Not to mention they are all around two years older than Harry, giving them a bigger variety of spells to use. But somehow against all odds, Harry has to pull through. And somehow, against all odds, I believe he will pull through.
Suddenly Hermione plops down in between Ron and I (we still aren't exactly on good terms since he betrayed Harry)
"Where have you been?" I ask her and she huffs exasperatedly only saying "I hate Rita Skeeter!" Now that I look at her, she has a pink tinge to her face and her cheeks are slightly flushed. What the Hades did that horrid woman do now?

Just over an hour later, all of the champions have successfully stolen the egg from the dragon... Except for Harry. I watch as he walks out of the tent only to face the deadliest dragon of them all. Now being down in the arena, Harry can't see the dragon right now but since we have an overhead view, I can easily watch as it slowly creeps up on him. I want to scream at him to look out, but I know that he can't hear me from way up here. Harry is slowly coming closer to the egg but that is when the dragon strikes.

BOOM!

Its spiked tail smashes into the rocky ground, causing stones to fly everywhere and a cloud of dust and dirt to form. Thankfully the tail narrowly misses Harry and he has time to roll out of the way. I watch as he scrambles up one of the rocks. Being far more aggressive than the other three dragons, it continues to smash into the rocks. Harry doesn't even get a second to catch his breath. This time he can't avoid the strong, spiked tail and it slams into him, sending him flying and tumbling into the jagged, rocky ground.

Even from here I can see his body shaking as he gasps for breath. This is so unfair, he never wanted any of this. He never wanted to enter the tournament! But he suffered and worried in silence anyway. Harry somehow gets up and run for cover as the dragon slowly approaches his hiding spot. He peaks around the rock only for fire to erupt from the beast's mouth and Harry is forced to duck back into cover. For a few minutes this goes on and just when I think he is going to give up, a feminine voice yells extremely  loudly.

"Your wand, Harry! Use your wand!" Hermione shrieks and his head snaps in our direction. He seems to understand her and pulls his wand out. He stares at it for a few seconds before casting a spell.

"Accio Firebolt!" He yells. Smart move, he just might be able to fly around and avoid the dragon in the air before swooping down and grabbing the egg. "Come on Harry." I whisper. In the distance, along the tree line, I can see the broom rushing towards him. It zips right past the dragon and comes to a stop beside Harry, waiting for him to mount. He wastes no time in jumping on and it seems like the whole school jumps up in excitement. The Weasley twins and I are cheering the loudest of course. However the Hungarian horntail tries to chase after Harry and I watch in horror as all of the chains that once grounded the dragon snap. Harry obviously notices this and sores out of the arena, the dragon following after and destroying the roof of the teacher's sitting area in the process.

"GO DRAGON!" Fred and George yell enthusiastically and I laugh at their antics.

Everyone turns to see where the two are going, but they disappear in the fog. For around fifteen minutes, nothing happens. There is no sight of Harry or the dragon and people begin to worry. But finally we see a figure rise from the fog and I immediately know that it's Harry. I am the first one to cheer and mere seconds later everyone else joins me in celebrating Harry's victory. He looks a bit shaken but proud nevertheless, he just defeated a Hungarian horntail for Zeus' sake!  He speeds back into the arena and swoops down, snatching the golden egg from where it is perched on the top of a boulder. I sigh with relief, he passed the first task, it is okay... he  is okay. I look around to see Ron and Hermione cheering, hopefully the dumb git will apologize to Harry now. Draco is glaring fiercely at Harry and although I should hate him, I can't seem to feel any sort of hatred towards him. He may be labeled as the bully or posh, stuck up brat... but Draco is my friend. I can tell that he is a very complicated and complex person that no one tries to truly understand.

Dumbledore and McGonagall are clapping and smiling proudly, they remind me of parents. I know that they care for Harry and have a special bond with him, especially professor McGonagall although she doesn't show it often. Sevy (yes I still call him that, he's my brother so deal with it) is clapping politely but I can see the ghost of a smile on his face. No one else would be able to tell but I know him better than anyone, and he definitely  cares about Harry. But then why does he act so harshly towards him? I'll have to have a talk with him later about that.

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"Who wants me to open this?" Harry calls and the sound of cheering fills the Gryffindor common room. Let me explain, after dinner we had all quickly rushed back to the common room to celebrate Harry and him completing the first task. The common room is currently full of pranking gadgets (thanks to a certain pair of redhead twins), all sorts of magical candies and excited Gryffindor students. Harry seems to have made up with Ron, thank the gods for that. And now, after most of the excitement is over, Harry is being held up by Fred and George. He opens the egg and a horrible screeching sound fills the air making us all drop to our knees and clutch our ears- well not me, I've heard worse so I can handle it. Round one may be over, but the next two can only be more dangerous. But for now... I'm not going to worry. I've learned after many years that you should have fun whenever you get the chance, because you never know when those fun times will be taken away from you.